Run Out Groove December 2018: Vote for an expanded release of Cher "3614 Jackson Highway"!

Album Details

• If voted to win, it would be the first time this album would be reissued on vinyl in the U.S. since 1969!
• Would be expanded to include a bonus LP that includes her 1970 unreleased Atco album in mono making its debut on vinyl.
• Would be pressed on 180g color vinyl at Record Industry and come in a gatefold tip-on jacket.
• Would be limited and numbered based on preorders

Biography

Cherilyn Sarkisian, known by her stage name of CHER is commonly referred to as the Goddess of Pop and is easily one of the most iconic female artists and performers of all time. She is known for her distinctive contralto voice, for working in numerous areas of entertainment and for adopting a variety of styles during her six-decade-long career. Cher originally gained fame in 1965 as one-half of the folk rock husband-wife duo of Sonny & Cher after the smash hit, “I Got You Babe,” reached number one on the American and British charts. In less than two years they had sold 40 million records worldwide and had become rock’s “it” couple. She began her solo career releasing her first million-selling song, “Bang Bang (My Baby Shot Me Down) in 1966, became a TV personality in the 1970s with The Sonny & Cher Comedy Hour which was watched by 30 million viewers weekly and emerged as a fashion trendsetter by wearing elaborate outfits on television. While working in TV, Cher established herself as a solo artist with the US Billboard Hot 100 chart-topping singles, “Gypsys, Tramps & Thieves,” “Half-Breed,” and “Dark Lady.” She won critical acclaim for her acting performances in films such as Silkwood (1983), Mask (1985) and Moonstruck (1987), for which she won the Academy Award for Best Actress. In 1998 with her album “Believe” she reached a new commercial peak when the title track became the biggest-selling single of all time by a female artist in the UK. Her 2002-2005 Living Proof Farewell Tour was one of the highest grossing concert tours of all time. She has won a Grammy, an Emmy, an Academy Award, three Golden Globe Award, a Cannes Film Festival Award, among many other honors. She has sold 100 million records worldwide to date, becoming one of the best-selling music artists in history. 3614 Jackson Highway is the sixth studio album by Cher and was originally released on June 20, 1969 by Atco Records, a subsidiary of Atlantic Records. At the time of release, the album was a commercial failure, peaking at only #160 although it received praise and positive reviews from music critics at the time based on Cher’s maturing vocals along with the sophisticated instrumentation and arrangements. The album remains Cher’s first and last solo studio album from Atco and was produced by Jerry Wexler, Tom Dowd and Arif Mardin. The cover art is a photo of Cher with the Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section of musicians that are featured on the album. The album was conceived as a way to bring success to Cher and Sonny & Cher, after a two-year period of commercial failure as the formulaic nature of the duo’s musical endeavors were rendered obsolete as pop music evolved in the later 1960s. In 1968 and 69 Cher recorded songs for an album with a tentative release in 1970. For unknown reasons the album was cancelled and five of the tracks were issued as singles. The remaining tracks went unreleased until Rhino issued a limited edition CD of the album with including the mono tracks as bonus. If voted to win, ROG will reissue 3614 Jackson Highway on vinyl for the first time since original release and expand it to include the entire 1970 unreleased mono album/singles that would be making their debut on vinyl as a collected effort for the first time.

Track Listing
Side A
1 For What It’s Worth 2:22
2 (Just Enough To Keep Me) Hangin’ On 3:19
3 (Sittin’ On) The Dock Of The Bay 2:41
4 Tonight I’ll Be Staying Here With You 3:08
5 I Threw It All Away 2:50
6 I Walk On Guilded Splinters 2:32

Side B
1 Lay Baby Lay 3:37
2 Please Don’t Tell Me 3:37
3 Cry Like A Baby 2:46
4 Do Right Woman, Do Right Man 3:21
5 Save The Children 2:55

Side C
1 Easy To Be Hard 3:45
2 I Believe 3:56
3 Danny Boy 5:21
4 Momma Look Sharp 3:34
5 It Gets Me Where I Want To Go 3:11

Side D
1 You’ve Made Me So Very Happy 2:44
2 Your’s Until Tomorrow 2:52
3 The Thought Of Loving You 2:25
4 The First Time 3:25
5 Chastity’s Song (Band of Thieves) single version 3:09
6 Superstar 3:08

Run Out Groove Vote For Next Release

 

I thought I'd include Cher performing one of the singles from the album to bump up this thread!

 

Over Sonny's masterpiece "Inner Views"? No way!

The Meters' Rejuvenation is also a stone classic, but that's easily findable on vinyl.

 

Ugh -- a whole album of S0nny? Never.

 

You gotta hear this one.

 

Kind of a brilliant business model: Do what Rhino Handmade did twenty years ago.

 

I always loved Rhino Handmade, so I think ROG is kind of cool.

 

I loved Rhino Handmade, too...and so apparently do Run Out Groove, since a lot of what they've pitched were reissues that Rhino Handmade did 15-20 years ago (just on vinyl instead of CD). It seems a little uninspired...but, their mastering is great. I only wish that, if they are going to vinylize a Rhino Handmade title, they would include the copious notes that accompanied those titles on CD. The Beau Brummels Bradley's Barn LP reissue is wonderful (and better sounding then the CD), but woefully under-annotated.

 

I'd agree with you -- the notes for their Bettye LaVette release were also lacking.

 

Agreed. The Dr. John title was also a mess as far as annotation goes, which is a shame, as there was actual rare music on that set...

 

Isn't there a rather lengthy thread here about this label and its shortcomings? Unless this is an all analogue remaster, I see not point in it. It seems most (if not all) of their releases are lazily sources from digital files.

 

It claims that if it's picked, Rejuvenation will be half-speed mastered....that's probably never happened before. It's a pity they didn't put up Cabbage Alley as a candidate for half-speed mastering, because that's the one Warners album in my view that could probably benefit from a remastering and a really solid vinyl pressing. The Meters are one of the few bands where I actually get to claim "oh, I don't need it, I have perfect mint originals for everything," and I'm glad I do, but I would be so interested in seeing if a half speed mastering could pull some more fidelity out of the boxy drum and keyboard sounds on Cabbage Alley. But if they could make Rejuvenation sound like that Dr. John rarities set they did, which I thought sounded really great, I would be totally down with that!

 

If this is done from the masters and not simple digital-to-vinyl, I will be interested.

 

Uh.....I’m voting for The Meters.

 

Inner Views is indeed an interesting album to listen on rare occasions, but basically it's just dated pseudo-psych rock. Sonny's attempt to stay currrent with the changes in rock music during the "summer of love".

While there's an argument to be made that Cher's record was also an attempt to update her sound for the late 60s rock market, I truly believe that there's no contest...3614 Jackson Highway is a much better album musically. I'm pretty sure that if Sonny was still around, that he would probably agree with this. I really hope it gets released.

 

Sorry but not if you paid me.
Just the thought of her attempt at singing on that hallowed ground with that legendary crew makes me ill.

 

Interesting choice. I picked this up recently only because I'm a Muscle Shoals fan and didn't have this one. It's worth having if you like the Swampers, and Cher does some interesting interpretations, but overall it's not the best thing to come out of 3614 Jackson Hwy. I'd rather have a nice remaster of Lulu's New Routes.

 

Just moving this to the front for anyone that wants to vote -- I think the deadline is later on this week.

 

Tough choice, but gotta go with the Meters on this one. Especially since it sounds like it will be cut AAA.

 

Cher won (this will probably be shipping in the summer, but I've pre-ordered mine nonetheless)! (FWIW, The Meter is back up for this month's vote).

3614 Jackson Highway

 

Sign me up for this. The original album cover did not scream "buy me" in the store. The German release wisely used the gorgeous color photo inside the gatefold instead for its front cover.

Cher - 3614 Jackson Highway

 

I like that original cover -- I think it was an "artsy" cover after Cher's pretty standard ones at Imperial/Liberty.

 

Cher on Glen Campbell singing “Dock of the Bay”:

 

Acoustic Sounds has this available as a pre-order with a June 7, 2019 release date:

Cher-3614 Jackson Highway-180 Gram Vinyl Record|Acoustic Sounds

 

Amazon Germany says March 8th